Politics of the North Korean Diaspora

Abstract

Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora – a globally-dispersed population of North Korean émigrés – and argues that the non-democratic nature of the DPRK homeland regime fundamentally shapes diasporic politics. Pyongyang perceives the diaspora as a threat to regime security, and attempts to dissuade emigration, de-legitimate diasporic voices, and deter or disrupt diasporic political activity, including through extraterritorial violence and transnational repression. This, in turn, shapes the North Korean diaspora's perceptions of citizenship and patterns of diasporic political engagement: North Korean émigrés have internalized many host country norms, particularly the civil and participatory dimensions of democratic citizenship, and émigrés have played important roles in both host-country and global politics. This Element provides new empirical evidence on the North Korean diaspora; demonstrates that regime type is an important, understudied factor shaping transnational and diasporic politics; and contributes to our understanding of comparative authoritarianism's global impact.